Spanish Media Groups Agree
To Pool TV Soccer Rights

MADRID -- Spain's two largest private media groups agreed to pool their highly coveted television rights to Spanish soccer, while exploring the possibility of launching a joint digital TV platform.

The accord between Sogecable SA and Antena 3 de Television SA ends an acrid war that broke out earlier this year over the TV rights to Spain's popular football league. It also holds the potential of creating a powerful digital TV venture able to compete directly with a platform led by
Telefonica de Espana SA
.

Televisio de Catalunya SA, the Catalan television station that holds the rights to games played by Catalonia's two principal teams, also signed the agreement late Tuesday.

Sogecable, a unit of Spanish media group Prisa SA and Canal Plus SA of France, created a platform for digital TV via satellite in September, but the project suffered a setback when DirecTV, a unit of Hughes Electronics Corp. of the U.S., decided at the last moment against joining.

Advantage: Sogecable

Earlier this year, Sogecable, the operator of Canal Plus Espana, Spain's only pay-television station, took Antena 3 to court over the television rights to the Spanish soccer league, which are now the most expensive in Europe. Among them, the three signatories of Tuesday's accord have the rights to broadcast 95% of the games involving teams in Spain's first division. Once pooled, those rights will give Sogecable an enormous advantage over Telefonica, even if Antena 3 and Televisio de Catalunya decide not to join its platform.

Indeed, analysts say soccer is key to the success of any direct-to-home television service via satellite.

For its part, Antena 3 agreed in November to join the digital platform led by 21%-state-owned Telefonica, which will have a 35% stake in the project. Grupo Televisa of Mexico and the underperforming Spanish state-owned radio and television group, Radio Television Espanola, or RTVE, are also partners, with 17% each. Under the agreement, the platform was to be legally established by Dec. 16. Industry sources said the date has been pushed back at least a month.

Plans May Change

RTVE, which unsuccessfully tried to launch its own digital platform before joining Telefonica, suggested on Thursday it may re-evaluate its plans for digital television.

"If the unilateral withdrawal of some of the partners from the agreement reached on Nov. 29 is confirmed, RTVE will reconsider its shareholding (in Telefonica's platform), while preserving its objective of becoming a dominant supplier of programs in Spanish," it said.

Telefonica said it had no comment.

Industry sources said Sogecable was able to woo its heavily indebted competitor away from Telefonica's platform by offering to finance some of its debt obligations, many of which were incurred on the acquisition of the rights to broadcast matches. Last week, the government authorized the sale of 15% of Antena 3 to the Bank of New York Co. The stake originally belonged to Banco Espanol de Credito, the big commercial bank that was seized by the Spanish authorities in December 1993. Antena 3 borrowed heavily to repurchase the stake after the bank's near collapse.

Moreover, Antonio Asensio, the chairman of Antena 3, will head up the joint-venture. In separate written statements, Sogecable and Antena 3 said the platform would be open to any TV channel that wanted to join.